Patriots-Dolphins Stock Watch: Stevenson and Gibson are among the few bright spots

Patriots-Dolphins Stock Watch: Stevenson and Gibson were just a few bright spots originally appearing on NBC Sports Boston

The New England Patriots suffered their fourth straight loss in their Week 5 game against the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.

The Dolphins, playing without injured quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, outlasted Foxboro with a 15-10 victory. The Patriots' offense failed to score more than one touchdown for the fourth time in five games, and the unit's average of 12.4 points per game ranks 31st out of 32 teams.

The defense played well enough to win, but similar to last season, the offense failed to live up to expectations.

Who stood out as a bright spot in Sunday's loss and who deserves the blame for the loss? Our Patriots insiders Tom E. Curran and Phil Perry covered both fronts in the Stock Watch segment Patriots Talk Podcastby highlighting players who were successful (Stock Up) and players who fell short of expectations (Stock Down).

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Here are Curran and Perry's Stock Up and Stock Down picks for Week 5:

Stock up

Christian Gonzalez, cornerback

Gonzalez played most of Sunday against the Dolphins' star wideout Tyreek Hill and did a very good job. He also made his first interception of the season, setting up a short field for the Patriots that they used for their only touchdown of the game in the first quarter.

Perry: “He had a crucial interception and helped set them up for that score. I thought he did a really good job. There was a throw in the end zone intended for Tyreek Hill that he almost hit. There was another throw into the end zone that Hill was out of bounds because I think Gonzalez did a good job of getting him out of the corner in part.

Antonio Gibson, running back

Gibson started at running back and collected 56 rushing yards on six carries (8.7 per attempt) and one catch for four yards. Towards the end of the game he didn't get enough contact with the ball.

Curran: “He’s great. He just starts so well in every game. He's just ready to go, seems like a real professional. I haven't spent much time talking to him, but he seems like a very professional person. I think they. “I need a lot of that at this point, especially on offense.

Brenden Schooler, special teams

Schooler blocked a punt in the second quarter, giving the Patriots possession at the Dolphins' 23-yard line. Unfortunately for the Patriots, the ensuing drive ended with a 33-yard field goal miss by kicker Joey Slye.

Perry: “We don’t get a lot of punt blocks that we cover every year and that was potentially a big game. They didn't do much with it, but he did a good job of getting in there and blocking this.”

Rhamondre Stevenson, running back

Stevenson was benched early in the game, but that didn't last long. He was still the focal point of the offense, rushing for 89 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Stevenson also caught four passes for three yards. Most importantly, it wasn't the first time Stevenson fumbled this season.

Curran: “Very vilified and rightly so because of the many fumbles. He ended up running for a 33-yard touchdown early in the game.”

Inventory decreased

Ja'Lynn Polk, wide receiver

Polk made one catch for 13 yards on six targets. He nearly won the Patriots' game late in the fourth quarter, but failed to fend off the inbounds in the back of the end zone. The referees made the right call, even though the rookie wideout touched the inbounds with both feet.

Curran: “A few drops. It's not his fault he wasn't (inbounds) at the end of the game, but some of his comments from the locker room said everyone thought it was a touchdown and no one gave me an explanation as to why that was.” Wasn't that the case? Are you kidding me? You don't want to say why it wasn't a touchdown? It's wrong. Find out what the rule is… He had one catch on six targets.

Joey Slye, kicker

Slye has played well for the Patriots this season, but a missed field goal from 33 yards out in the second quarter after a blocked kick was a tough setback for an offense that needed all the points it could get.

Perry: “I hate to do it, but that was a doable kick and I didn't see a bad snap or hold there.”

Nick Leverett, center

Leverett replaced the injured David Andrews as the starter and had a tough game. According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed 10 pressures. According to Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald, this is “the highest number of centers in a single game in the PFF era (since 2006).”

Curran: “He was stopped several times at the turnstile.

Keion White, defensive end

White has the ability to be an impressive pass rusher, but he didn't make such an impression on Sunday. He only recorded two tackles, one QB hit and zero sacks. He also committed two major personal foul penalties.

Perry: “You can't give personal foul penalties and not include them in the stick-down category, especially if there are multiple ones. And the second one is such a killer on third down.”